By Andrew Warshaw
March 6 – After more than a century without a commercial sponsor, Barcelona will break new ground next season by sporting the logo of Qatar Airways on its shirts – the starkest illustration yet of the club needing to embrace commercial reality as Qatar continues its drive to make inroads into European football.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 5 – The idea of the two Glasgow giants abandoning Scottish football and being integrated into the English league has once again been raised – this time by Rangers chief executive Charles Green.
March 4 – Former French club giant Auxerre, currently in Ligue 2, is under scrutiny by French football’s financial watchdog and has until the end of the season to recapitalise or face possible relegation.
March 1 – In a world first, a club TV channel has bought the broadcast rights to an international football league. Benfica TV has been awarded exclusive audio visual broadcast rights for all Barclays Premier League matches per season for from 2013/14 – 2015/16 in Portugal.
March 1 – Beleaguered Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers will not be stripped of any of their league titles over alleged undisclosed payments to players during the club’s former guise. But the company that used to run the club have been fined £250,000 by a commission appointed by the Scottish Premier League.
By Mark Baber
February 27 – It appears Spanish giants FC Barcelona have breached FIFA regulations on the international transfer of players designed to stop child trafficking and exploitation.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 28 – UEFA have run out of patience with Lazio and ordered the Italian club to play their next two home European games behind closed doors after their fans were found guilty of racist behaviour for the fourth time this season.
February 27 – A further 67.4 billion rubles ($2.2 billion) has been earmarked by the Russians in the new sports budget to spend on the infrastructure and preparations for hosting the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 and the FIFA World Cup 2018.
February 27 – Lazio are awaiting their fate after being charged by UEFA yet again over racist behaviour by their fans – this time following the recent Europa League win over Borussia Moenchengladbach.
February 27 – Serie A club AS Roma have announced a “preliminary agreement” with an Italian-based sheikh for a reported investment of between €50m and €100m– but doubts have been raised about his ability to raise the necessary funds.
February 26 – The forces against the formation of a unified CIS league are growing in strength as Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko weighs in again with his belief that a Russian-Ukrainian championship is economically unprofitable and pointless.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 22 – Barcelona are trying to organise a symbolic peace match against a joint Israeli-Palestinian team to try and heal the wounds between two sides and promote the Middle East peace process.
February 22 – The prospects for the return of a CIS regional league look more remote after the Ukranian FA distanced itself from the Russian club proposal.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 21 – In what appeared to be yet another unprovoked anti-Semitic ambush, Tottenham Hotspur fans have been attacked in a bar in the French city of Lyon on the eve of their side’s Europa League last-32 tie.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
February 19 – Five years after celebrating their independence from Serbia, Kosovan football officials say they have been betrayed after being promised partial acceptance into the world game.